Raya faced the entrance to the forest with trepidation. The beautiful sunlit trees, edged with gold in the fading light of the evening, only reminded her of what they would look like without the sun’s friendly illumination. Her gaze snagged on a fallen tree with the branches twisted outward like the outstretched fingers of a giant hand.
Lizzy bustled past carrying a bag full of gear. “Isn’t this exciting?” she chirped.
Exciting was not the word. Terrifying, maybe. Raya felt profoundly ill-equipped. She’d come to France for a nice indoor convention—not a pitch-black ramble through an unfamiliar forest surrounded by whatever beasts inhabited such an environment.
Lions. Tigers. Bears.
“Oh, my,” said Raya, adjusting the strap on her pack.
“What’s that?” said Lizzy.
Raya shifted the weight on her back and checked her wand’s position in her hair. “Nothing.”
“Are you ready?” Nathan handed them each a hiking pole for extra stability in the darkness.
Lizzy swung the pole like a tap dancer. “Ready!”
Nathan led the way into the woods, his stiff posture loosening as he hit the trail.
The path unfurled before them, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Raya fell into step with Lizzy. She’d seen a map of the forest earlier, but the simple two-dimensional view didn’t even begin to translate to the deep complexity of the surrounding landscape.
“We were so busy getting ready earlier I didn’t get to ask you about yourself,” said Lizzy.
Raya breathed heavier as the path went up a rise. She felt the pull of needing to share something about herself since Lizzy had been so open with her. “Did I tell you I was a school librarian?”
“No—really? That’s so cool! And you picked up witchcraft all on your own?”
“Self-taught.” Raya tried to breathe evenly but her exhalations came out in winded puffs. She hoped she didn’t collapse before it was all over. “You?”
“My mom was a witch. She’s kind of retired now, but she taught me a lot. I’m really good at sensing things.”
“Sensing things?”
“Magic. Speaking of which, I was in the audience for Nathan’s speech—did you know that?”
Raya shook her head.
“You lit up like a firecracker!”
Raya’s thoughts whirled like fallen leaves in the wind. Her little stunt had been spotted not just by Nathan, but by his assistant. No wonder she’d received an impromptu invite on their field trip. Belatedly, she realized that Lizzy had been waiting for her to reply. “Thanks. I don’t really have a particular thing that I’m good at, like you.”
Lizzy smiled. “Are you kidding? You draw power like a magnet.”
They walked on, the sounds of their footsteps punctuated by birdsong echoing in the trees.
“First landmark up ahead,” said Nathan.
Boulders tilted over the path, corralling them into a dark and narrow opening.
Inside, Nathan planted his hiking pole in the dirt floor of the cave. “Welcome to the Grotto of Perjury.”
Lizzy’s musical laugh rebounded strangely off the stone walls. “Couldn’t they come up with a better name?”
Raya placed her hand on the cool stone, faintly lit by the last remaining daylight. “Why is it called that?”
No one answered.
